The Gavel

To Read The Full Article, Go To www.cyclesource.com

Article By: J. Ken Conte

Photos By: Mike Hows Photography

Originally Published In The August 2018 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

If you have been reading the last few issues, you know that the junkyard CB 750 was a labor of love but also a way to connect with readers who maybe have some mechanical aptitude but not a ton of dough. Everyone doesn’t have the ability to go out and buy a Harley or afford parts to customize them. Typically, they can afford an imported bike that needs some TLC. My first bike was a 1977 Yamaha RD 400 two stroke two cylinder. I knew nothing about bikes, had a local guy bore out the cylinders and put new rings and pistons, but my dreams of customizing it quickly came to a halt when I couldn’t keep it running. I wish I had that bike today to tinker with and make it to a proper scrambler, but I gave up because I didn’t have the knowledge to keep up with all the tiny issues. I still thought about what I would make that bike into; thankfully I got rid of it before I could molest it into a state of it being unrideable. A nice flat tracker racer came by and “took it off my hands” for a few hundred dollars. My next build was similar to what this CB 750 was, but in boxes as a parts bike. I chopped the frame, did some terrible seagull crap welds and gave up on bike building until I had a friend who could show me the ins and outs of building a proper custom from the ground up.

This CB750 was in a junkyard across from Jason Delacroix and Jason Williams shop. It was of questionable quality because you never know what you are going to get even if it is through reputable source. Assume the worst. They got this CB750 that had been sitting for decades in the desert and quickly deloused it with heavy insect killer and degreaser. That made it so they could really see what they were working with. You can look through the previous issues to see everything they did to take a junkyard do and make it into a fully functional café racer. The point is that everyone reading this knows a place or person who has a bike that might be in questionable condition but could be reconditioned and made into a rideable bike. This project got started because the co-owners of Motoauct.com wanted to transform an unrideable vintage motorcycle into a piece that could be auctioned off live on their platform. They decided the perfect place to unveil it would be The Quail motorcycle gathering and auction it off on their site during the event. What started as a mild customization turned into the full-blown café racer before you. As you read this it will have new lucky owner as it was auctioned off on Motoauct.com during the Quail Motorcycle Gathering. If you weren’t the lucky bidder on Motoauct.com, you can always look at their site and see if there is a contender for your own groundup custom build. Chances are with everything that you can find on the internet it is possible to build something on your own and learn the ins and outs of a bike that you can truly call your own.